WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s chief safety officer last week said the agency has formed three core working groups to develop prospective requirements for manufacturers and truckers seeking to participate in highly automated commercial vehicle, or HACV, pilot programs.

While it’s no secret that more and more people are shopping online, less obvious is understanding consumers’ buying habits and patterns — which has great relevance for the trucking industry.

Shippers and carriers sometimes might disagree on fair rates, settlement schedules or detention charges. But there is one freight-hauling technique that wins kudos from both sides: drop and hook. It sounds easy — and it can be — if the timing is right, experts said.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Peter DeFazio is never far from home. His small office at the Rayburn House Office Building is a bona fide southwest Oregon visitor center. Visitors are greeted by posters of college football matchups featuring Oregon schools, photos of the Pacific coast and majestic mountains and a cute little beaver reminiscent of a Gund stuffed animal by the front desk.

CSX Corp. has officially agreed to pay $84 million as part of the process to bring Hunter Harrison on board as the CEO, executing an agreement on June 16 that shareholders approved earlier in the month.

Tax reform and spurring economic growth are at the top of the agenda on Capitol Hill. But when it comes to a harmful tax in the commercial truck retail market, there is none greater than the federal excise tax. This year, with the political climate ripe for tax reform and an infrastructure bill, American Truck Dealers, a division of National Automobile Dealers Association, is aggressively pursuing a measure to repeal the FET that is advancing on Capitol Hill.

GlobalTranz Enterprises has completed its third acquisition this year, purchasing freight broker Worthington Logistics Solutions of Timonium, Md.

Automated vehicle technology is coming to trucking, but what will that mean for the truck driver?

SAN FRANCISCO — Uber Technologies Inc.'s drive to become a major player in the trucking business is off to a bumpy start, with analysts and industry executives questioning what exactly the company can bring to the sprawling $700-billion industry.

Crete Carrier Corp. will allow drivers to travel up to 65 mph on cruise control, up from the 62 mph limit previously in place.

Lineage Logistics has bought Partner Logistics of Europe, the first international acquisition for the temperature-controlled warehousing company based in Irvine, Calif.

Three straight months of declines in new-home construction show U.S. homebuilding may weigh on second-quarter growth, Commerce Department data showed June 16.

Truck makers, technology developers and regulators are paving the way for self-driving commercial vehicles, but the future of the industry ultimately will be shaped by fleets and the extent to which they adopt automated driving capabilities.

A terminal at the Port of Charleston, S.C., will reopen and the safety zone has been lifted, the U.S. Coast Guard said June 15, after investigating a threat of a "dirty bomb" on a containership.

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump named longtime Republican donor Kelly Craft as his next ambassador to Canada on June 14, according to a White House official.

The trucking industry’s march toward self-driving trucks is gaining momentum as new developers attempt to accelerate the pace of innovation.

Americans’ confidence hovered near a decade high last week, indicating consumers remain upbeat about the U.S. economic outlook, Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index figures showed June 15.

Autonomous autos are advancing so rapidly that companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo are beginning to offer robot rides to everyday consumers. But it turns out the traveling public may not be ready.

Although it’ll be a while before we all have an IBM Watson supercomputer sitting on our desktops, there are a number of artificial intelligence business tools truckers can use right now that will help you run smarter, faster and ahead of the competition. Essentially, these next-generation wonders tap into the ability of artificial intelligence to do a lot of the thinking and strategizing for you.

An unexpected decline in May factory output after the biggest gain in three years shows U.S. manufacturing is leveling off, Federal Reserve data showed June 15.